The Earth Tones series features sellers that repurpose, recycle, and reuse materials. This week's eco-friendly contribution to the Fresh Shops series features SecondLineFrames, which opened in January.  I was immediately taken by the items in their shop — exquisite frames both beautifully crafted and lovely to look at.  What makes these objects even more unique is the fact that they are fashioned out of salvaged wood scraps that were left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I spoke to Anika, who along with her mother, father, and boyfriend Michael, runs SecondLineFrames.

It's incredible that these frames are constructed out of wood debris left after Hurricane Katrina. Can you talk a little about your personal connection to New Orleans?
My mother was raised in New Orleans and lived there for 22 years. It’s a place that’s immensely dear to her heart, and the rest of my family's. We’ve been loyal Jazz Fest-goers every year for as long as I can remember! [NOTE: SecondLineFrames is now based out of Alabama.]

Tell me a little about the idea behind your shop, and why you offer frames...
It was important to us that an individual could have a piece of New Orleans and its story. Frames preserve memories, and the notion of making frames out of this wood and giving it a fresh start seemed only natural. In the several times we went back to New Orleans after the hurricane, we couldn’t quite get over the shock of how much was still left to be done. With each visit, it was getting better, but there was also that pile of debris you’d see where there was once a quaint old house — and that was unsettling. We want to remind people that there is always something to look forward to, even when you're looking back.

My grandfather, Harry Anderson was a woodworker, he made frames and furniture for as long as I can remember, and so it was no surprise that woodworking came just as naturally to my father! RebirthFrames is our Etsy 'sister store,' or should we say 'brother store,' as it’s run by my mother's brother. It feels good to know we’re continuing a family tradition, and we hope to invigorate and reclaim these materials that had been disregarded — to give them new life.

Can you talk a little bit about how the frames are made, from conception to finish?
When it comes to designing the frames, we pick out a plank of wood and think about what would best fit it, not how it would fit into our design.  We try to maximize the wood we have in an attempt to produce as little waste as possible.  All the wood we collect has either already been put into piles for trash pickup, or we get permission from a family currently doing renovations.  What we would like to do sometime in the future is to give a frame back to the original person we got the wood from, so that they can have a preserved piece of their old house — that would be a fantastic moment!

For more about how to contribute to Hurricane Katrina relief, visit the American Red Cross at: Redcross.org/services/disaster.